I call this the Summer of Bronchitis.
I have been so sick since about mid July. I got well enough to swim for one whole week near the end of August. Then my son and both grandgirls got sick in the following week, and I was sick again just... Read more

The past three weeks I have been sidelined by illness. The upper respiratory infection I had was something I just couldn't get over. It turned into severe bronchitis that took me out of work for several days. There was an ear infection in the... Read more

I feel a bit like July has been a wasted month.
I started off the month discouraged by the slow rate of change in the numbers on the scale. But I was seeing changes in my body, and worked to encourage myself to focus on those. That was a ... Read more

Maybe I just really needed that long weekend to rest up, but I'm feeling quite positive and energized about my SparkJourney.
I was concerned that the activity tracker was over-estimating the number of calories I burn swimming. So I found a... Read more

I'm feeling better than I was when I wrote yesterday's blog entry. Thank you for all the kind words of support! Taking in your words, and taking some time to think helped a lot. I went to the pool and swam for an hour and fifteen minutes. I ... Read more

I'm feeling somewhat down and frustrated. Two months I've been at this - tracking what I eat, weighing and measuring, staying in a weight loss calorie range every week, and swimming 1.5-2 hours 4 to 7 times a week. I'm working hard at this. A... Read more

I've been thinking a lot about goals lately. Numbers on a scale are, in a way, an abstract concept for me. I've been thinking more about things I'm looking forward to accomplishing as I get healthier- goals that I can picture enjoying.
I ... Read more

I started Sparking on May 6th. But I was too scared to see how much I weighed, so I started with an estimated weight. It took three days to get up the courage to weigh myself. When I did, I discovered that I'd over-estimated my weight by 60 p... Read more

Okay, so late last night I over-did with "a little something sweet."
What lessons can I learn from that? Well, I was probably over-tired. I'd been up early, had been very active that day, and was up past my normal bedtime. I'll have to... Read more

Without movement, I just can't lose weight. But I'm not really an exercise kind of person. So being motivated to move is often difficult for me. Procrastination has been a foe. It's been way too easy for me to let a sense of responsibility t... Read more

Well, I'd never imagined "blogging," but I'm thinking of this as sort of a diary of my journey. Even if no one else ever reads a word, perhaps recording my thoughts through this process will be a help for me.
My plan for getting healthier ... Read more